


Tiny Fractures

by Lytchu



Category: Magic Kaito, 名探偵コナン | Detective Conan | Case Closed
Genre: A lot - Freeform, Again, Birds, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Fluff, Gems, M/M, Stargazing, hospiital, how many synonyms can I find for the word shine, roofs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-23
Updated: 2020-09-23
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:55:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26556220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lytchu/pseuds/Lytchu
Summary: But the brightest thing he had laid his eyes on tonight probably had to be—Kaito nudged his side, his eyes glistening in the dark as they turned to meet Shinichi’s.Shinichi drew his lips into a thin line.Yeah, it had to be that.
Relationships: Kudou Shinichi | Edogawa Conan/Kuroba Kaito | Kaitou Kid
Comments: 10
Kudos: 157





	Tiny Fractures

**Author's Note:**

> Canon? I have literally, never once in my life, ever met her. I don't know who she is. 
> 
> —
> 
> Alternatively named : How many times can I get away with mentioning Kaito's eyes? LMAO Feat. Unrealistic medical procedures and happenstances! 
> 
> I hope you guys enjoy!! :DD

“Shinichi.”

Shinichi groaned, throwing his blanket over his head.

“Shinichi,” the voice tried again.

Shinichi groaned again, firmly ignoring the person on the other side of the bed as he burrowed further into his pillow.

The voice chuckled softly, the calling finally coming to a stop. And Shinichi was about to revel in his next extra hour of sleep, before the blanket was thrown off his torso and a pair of arms wrapped themselves around his waist.

Shinichi sighed, cracking his eyes open painfully as the other dug their chin into his shoulder, entangling their legs together from behind.

“Kaito,” Shinichi groaned, bringing a hand up to rub at his face.

Kaito laughed, cheerfully and bright into Shinichi's ear before he settled his head back onto Shinichi’s pillow, burying his nose into Shinichi’s neck. “You really should get up though.”

“Says who,” Shinichi muttered as he slid his eyes back shut.

“Says me,” Kaito said, tightening his arms around Shinichi’s waist. “I’m only here for a few days before I need to go back.”

“You can always visit on the weekends anyways, it’s not like Ekoda is _that_ far,” Shinichi argued.

Kaito sighed, and Shinichi could tell that Kaito was rolling his eyes. “You know what I mean.”

“No,” Shinichi replied petulantly. “No I don’t.”

“Shinichi,” Kaito whined, dragging out the last syllable of his name.

And it’s not like Shinichi is weak, okay? He isn’t.

He snapped his eyes open when Kaito whined his name again, this time louder and directly into his ear. And he sounded so sad and crestfallen, that Shinichi forcibly sat up as well. He glared pitifully down at Kaito, who was grinning brightly up at him, the other’s sapphire eyes shining beautifully up at him.

It’s just that, he kind of is.

—  
 _I’m looking for something._  
—

“Kaito,” Shinichi started as he slid open the door, glancing apprehensively up at the white dove that was perched precariously on the crown of his head. “I think we have a pro—”

Shinichi paused, taking in the abundance of animals that littered the floor of their living room. There were several stray cats lying on their sides in the square of sunlight that shone through the window, with several others spaced out across the room. He also caught sight of a dog sleeping in the far right corner, with a pile of other birds and feathers surrounding it.

At the center of all the chaos, Kaito sat with his back to him, with his arms raised and at least four other doves perched on his own head and limbs.

Kaito blinked owlishly up at him, the blue in his eyes shimmering as he smiled nervously. “Uh.”

Shinichi raised an eyebrow at him, before swallowing and stepping back out to slide the door shut. “Never-nevermind.”

Shinichi was about to walk away, when he heard Kaito shushing a bird and whispering, _‘Don’t tell him’_.

He immediately threw the door back open with a scowl, starling nearly every animal, Kaito, and the dove perched on his head as he pointed an accusing finger at the perpetrator in the middle of the room. “You!”

“I can explain!” Kaito cried, hugging an orange and white striped kitten to his chest.

—  
 _Supposedly, it grants immortality._  
—

“Unbelievable,” Kaito grumbled, hiking Shinichi further up his back as they made their way down the sidewalk.

Shinichi laughed nervously, momentarily squeezing his arms tighter around Kaito’s neck in an attempt to placate him. “Sorry?”

“The one day,” Kaito groused, “the one day you decide to come visit me and we actually have something planned, you chase after a stolen bike and sprain your ankle.”

“Well I wasn’t just going to let him get away with it,” Shinichi said indignantly.

Kaito sighed. “Yeah yeah, I know.”

Shinichi bit his lip, and dropped his chin onto Kaito’s shoulder. “Are you mad?”

“No,” Kaito replied, and it sounded genuine. “I was mostly worried, if I’m being honest.”

“You don't have to be, it’s just a minor sprain.”

“No, let me be worried,” Kaito said, gripping the underside of Shinichi’s thighs tighter. “Let me take care of you, _for once_.”

Shinichi pouted, and lifted his head to knock his forehead roughly into the back of Kaito’s head, to which he received a disgruntled yelp for.

Kaito turned his head back slightly with a scowl, but it lacked any real anger, just confusion. “What was that for?”

Shinichi placed his chin back onto Kaito’s shoulder, nudging the other to turn his head back forward with his slightly throbbing forehead. “Oh nothing, I just think you’re an idiot.”

“What?” Kaito squawked. “You’re the one who hit me for no reason!”

Shinichi sighed, watching as the sidewalk passed beneath Kaito’s feet as he walked. “It’s not like I get to take care of you very often either. I want to too, but you never give me the chance.”

Kaito remained silent, and Shinichi turned his face into the junction of Kaito's neck and shoulder, exhaling softly.

“I guess, this is new to both of us huh?” Kaito said.

“Yeah.”

“Okay.”

“Okay?” Shinichi lifted his head.

“Okay,” Kaito repeated, turning to face Shinichi with a soft smile and glimmering eyes. “I’ll let you take care of me next time.”

Shinichi chuckled, shaking his head exasperatedly. “Idiot.”

—  
 _No! Detective!_  
—

“You are a fool,” Kaito cackled, and Shinichi scowled, knowing damn well that Kaito wouldn’t be able to see it over the phone.

“It’s not my fault,” Shinichi said indignantly. “You’re the one who canceled on me.”

“Yes yes, I’m very sorry,” Kaito said airily, signifying that he wasn’t the slightest bit sorry. “But Aoko got sick, so what else was I supposed to do?”

Shinichi sighed. “Yeah, I know.”

“I’ll see you next weekend okay?”

And that sounded very nice, but Shinichi was still a little bit bitter so he didn’t say that out loud.

“What are you, my babysitter?” Shinichi snarked instead, but he was already smiling. He could feel it.

And Ran could _actually_ see it, from where she was sitting beside him on the bench, the two of them having been subjected to another shopping trip with Sonoko. Well, Ran had gone willingly, Shinichi had been dragged, once they found out that Kaito couldn’t make it this week.

“I _wish_ , you need one.”

“Hey!” Shinichi snapped, and Ran giggled from beside him.

“He’s not wrong you know,” Ran said teasingly, and Shinichi rounded on her with a scowl.

“Who’s side are even you on?” Shinichi paused, listening to Kaito’s smug hum of satisfaction. “And how did you even hear that?”

Ran shrugged, in a way that said she was definitely not going to tell. She looked up, and pointed at the figure emerging from the boutique they were sitting in front of. “Looks like Sonoko’s done.”

Shinichi followed her line of sight and sighed, already feeling his arms get pre-exhausted from all the bags he was going to have to carry. “Okay.”

Once they said their goodbyes and hung up, Shinichi received a text message before he could put his phone away. When he opened up their chat box, he saw a picture of Kaito grinning at him, standing with a peace sign in front of his bedridden childhood friend, who was glaring at his back from where she had been bundled with what looked to be about four layers of blankets.

Shinichi smiled, his gaze catching the other’s twinkling blue eyes before he shut off his phone and tucked it into this pocket, hurriedly following after Ran.

—  
 _Come on, please. Please._  
—

“What are we doing?”

“Stargazing.”

Shinichi nodded, and turned towards Kaito with an eyebrow raised. “In the middle of the park?”

Kaito laughed, waving his arms and legs around on their picnic blanket, as if trying to make a snow angel with fabric. “Definitely.”

Shinichi wrinkled his nose, and kept his gaze on Kaito’s profile. “You’re deplorable.”

“What, don’t like this date idea?” Kaito asked, finally turning his head to face Shinichi.

Shinichi grinned. “Nah, this might be your best one yet.”

“Then act like it,” Kaito said, moving a hand to smack Shinichi’s shoulder. “Eyes on the sky.”

“Yeah yeah.” Shinichi turned away to gaze up at the blanket of night, the tiny specs of light in the sky glinting down at him. They were beautiful as they revolved slowly around him, but the brightest thing he had laid his eyes on tonight probably had to be—

Kaito nudged his side, his eyes glistening in the dark as they turned to meet Shinichi’s.

Shinichi drew his lips into a thin line.

Yeah, it had to be that.

—  
 _People are waiting for you._  
—

Kuroba. “Kaito.” Huh.

Another train sped by them, the sudden passing making Shinichi’s scarf flutter briefly in the wind before landing softly against his chest.

“Hmm?”

Shinichi turned his head to meet Kaito’s eyes, the glittering sapphire shining in puzzlement the longer Shinichi stared at him. Shinichi reached up to pull down his scarf, opening his mouth the slightest bit before closing it, choosing to smile softly at Kaito instead.

“Nothing.” Shinichi turned his head back towards the train tracks. He reached out to grab at Kaito’s hand, softly intertwining their fingers as a pair of rowdy children ran around behind them.

“Shinichi?”

Kaito’s concerned gaze tilted into the edge of Shinichi’s periphery, but he only shook his head and gently squeezed Kaito’s hand. He leaned his head back, blowing out a white puff of air.

“I’m just tired. I really want to get home soon,” Shinichi sighed.

“If you aren’t feeling well,” Kaito said worriedly, “I can make dinner tonight.”

Shinichi snorted. “Like you always do?”

Kaito knocked his shoulder against Shinichi’s with a gentle chuckle. “Glad to know you can’t live without me.”

Shinichi swung their intertwined hands lightly in feigned indignation, adopting a false scowl as he did so. “I can handle myself just fine.”

Kaito rolled his eyes. “Sure,” he replied sarcastically, and Shinichi considered throwing out all the ingredients in the fridge, but then _he_ wouldn’t get to eat, so he quickly scrapped the idea.

Home, Shinichi thought as their awaited train finally screeched to a halt in front of them, sounded great.

—  
 _I’m sorry._  
—

“You think this would be good for dinner?”

Shinichi hummed, looking up to see what Kaito was holding up in the mirror that Kaito had hung in their kitchen. Shinichi didn’t really see the point of it, but Kaito had said that it would be good for decoration and ‘reflecting light’.

Shinichi squinted at the box that Kaito was holding up, pausing in his endeavor of setting up the table. When he could finally make out the characters that were scratched across the front, he nodded in approval, catching sight of Kaito’s eyes in the mirror. The sparkling blue flashed briefly at him, before Kaito turned away towards the stove.

Shinichi looked down, staring at his hands as they stilled. “Kaito.”

From the shuffling of the apron and the cheerful lilt of Kaito’s voice, Shinichi could tell that he had turned around and was smiling. “Yeah?”

Shinichi looked back up, catching Kaito’s eyes in the mirror. They looked so bright, endlessly crystalized in the light. Shinichi could probably drown in them, if he wasn’t careful. He smiled at Kaito through the mirror, “You’re not real.”

There was a slight creaking noise in the air, quickly gone as it had come, leaving behind only silence.

Kaito blinked, before the sapphire in his eyes fractured the slightest bit, cracking in the light. His expression slowly fell, the corners of his eyes drooping as his lips pulled down into a frown. The box in his hand lowered, and Shinichi’s gaze lowered with it, so he wouldn’t have to witness Kaito’s heart breaking before his eyes.

“Why would you say that?” Kaito asked, the very soul of his happiness leaking over the countertops of the home they had built together. Well, _never_ had, would be more precise.

Shinichi slid his eyes shut. “Wouldn’t it be great? If you were real? If this was all real?”

“But this—”

“Isn’t,” Shinichi interrupted. He squared his shoulders and looked back up, catching Kaito’s gaze in the mirror again. The fractures in his eyes were still there. “Isn’t this what immortality means? Living forever in your happiest days, so much so that it feels endless?”

Kaito remained silent, lowering his eyes to the side with an apprehensive edge to his face. Shinichi could see his shoulders tense, and he lowered his eyes again, unable to bear the look of despair that was crossing Kaito’s features.

Shinichi heard sniffling behind him, and he screwed his eyes shut, listening to the rustle of fabric and quiet sobs.

“I was,” Kaito hiccupped, “I was lonely.”

Shinichi drew in a deep breath, and turned around, feeling his heart clench when he saw Kaito desperately wiping at his tears, tears that seemed to continuously fall like crystalized rain. He slowly walked forward, making his footsteps as light as possible as Kaito cried.

“I was so lonely!” Kaito wailed, and Shinichi drew him into his arms.

Fingers clawed themselves into his back, bunching up his shirt as Kaito sobbed and hiccupped into his shoulder. Shinichi could only clench his jaw, doing his best to keep his breathing even as he tightened his embrace.

“I know,” Shinichi murmured into the other’s hair. “I know. That’s why you brought me here right?”

Kaito only nodded, choking on another sob as he wiped his eyes across Shinichi’s shoulder.

Shinichi tilted his head back, eyeing the cracks that were forming on the ceiling and over the windows. Like a dream falling apart, everything would shatter soon, and he would lose all of it.

“I’m sorry,” Shinichi said gently, and Kaito shook his head again.

“N-no,” Kaito hiccupped again, “I should b-e.”

Shinichi chuckled, burying his nose into Kaito’s hair. “It’s not like I didn’t enjoy it, I had fun. I loved it.”

Kaito gave a watery laugh, interrupted by another small hiccup in the middle of it.

“And,” Shinichi added quietly, “I loved you.”

Kaito stilled in his arms, before quickly pulling back to stare bewilderedly into Shinichi’s eyes. His eyes were rimmed red, and there was snot running down the top of his lip—he probably wiped some on Shinichi’s shirt too, and the thought of it made him internally wince—but Shinichi only smiled at him, and pulled his head back into his shoulder.

“Really?” Kaito croaked, his breath still stuttering.

“Yeah,” Shinchi breathed out, and he felt Kaito finally relax into his arms. “You were like a near perfect copy of the original. It was hard not to, especially when I was already halfway there to begin with.”

Halfway there. Whether that was an under or overstatement, he didn’t know. The only thing he knew was that he felt _something_ , something good. Something he couldn’t exactly put into words. It was something that exhilarated him, and he wouldn’t have minded spending more of his days beside the idiot thief, just to have his heart stutter and mind race.

“How did you figure it out?” Kaito asked, voice quiet and resigned.

There was an answer, a clear cut one at that, but Shinichi only shook his head. “I can’t tell you that. What if you perfect it next time and I really can’t figure it out?”

“You would,” Kaito asserted. “You definitely would’ve. You wouldn’t be you otherwise.”

Shinichi hummed, rocking them in place as the cracks in their home lengthened. He grinned, “How very flattering of you.”

“Shut up,” Kaito chuckled, “I can compliment people if I please.”

“Is that so?” Shinichi quipped, whining in pain when Kaito pinched his back lightly.

They stood there in silence, listening to the subtle fracturing of their surroundings as their world slowly cracked apart around them. When the pressure became too much and a window finally shattered, sending glass flying over the counter top, Kaito tightened his hold on Shinichi’s shirt.

“Shinichi?”

“I can’t stay here,” Shinichi said, rubbing slow circles into Kaito’s back. “I’m sorry.”

“I know.”

“It would have been nice though,” Shinichi smiled, even though Kaito couldn’t see it, “to stay here. But I have a world to get back to, and you—the real you—wouldn’t, wouldn’t-”

“I know,” Kaito cut in gently. “You don’t have to say it.”

“Thanks,” Shinichi said gratefully.

“I’m sorry,” Kaito murmured, “for deceiving you.”

“Yeah, yeah I know. I won’t lie and say it wasn’t fun though, I just. This isn’t real. I,” Shinichi swallowed, his next words coming out choked and heavy, “I have to go back.”

Kaito stayed silent, even as their walls finally crumbled and fell apart, leaving behind only debris and dust in their wake. Shinichi couldn’t see past Kaito, the messy head of hair obscuring his vision so that he couldn’t see what lay beyond the broken walls. But honestly, he didn’t want to. He just wanted to go home.

“Okay,” Kaito said, his voice nearly muffled from Shinichi’s shoulder.

Shinichi smiled, and reached his hand up to gently pat the back of Kaito’s head. “Thank you.”

“No,” Kaito chuckled. “Thank you, for giving me company. It wasn’t lonely, when you were around. Thank you.”

Shinichi nodded, feeling Kaito’s body creak and crack in his arms.

“I loved this too,” Kaito said, his voice trembling and watery, “I loved you too.”

Shinichi sucked in a sharp breath, screwing his eyes shut as he momentarily tightened his hold around Kaito, as if it could be a final, last ditch attempt to make him stay.

But that would be impossible, so he only blinked his eyes open and nodded, his vision blurring as Kaito’s body shattered with a burst of light. His arms closed in on themselves, and he snapped his head up to watch the glittering shards dissipate into the air, leaving behind a colorful storm of dust. He reached his hand up, snatching at the particles that were slowly floating away from him.

When he pulled back and opened his hand, a handful of red shards lay in his palm. But when he brought the shards closer to his face, he could see the red slowly bleeding out of them, leaving behind colorless, tiny fractures.

—

Shinichi slowly blinked his eyes open, a steady beeping in his right ear growing louder and louder as he regained his consciousness. There was a heavy presence clutching at his hand, grounding him to the white and brown walls of the room he was in.

And when the grip tightened to a nearly unbearable degree, he shifted his head slightly to his right, where he saw a familiar face watching him, their face twisted with an agonized expression and on the brink of tears.

Shinichi smiled softly, as much as his strength would allow, and their grip finally loosened. “I’m back, Ran.”

As soon as the words fell past his lips, fat tear droplets fell from Ran’s eyes, and she flew forward with an anguished cry of his name. He winced as she wrapped her arms around his neck, the movement jostling him uncomfortably, but he kept quiet as Ran sobbed into his neck.

He tilted his head down to lean against hers, listening as she wailed louder and dampened his hospital gown. He let out a low breath, and tiredly slid his eyes shut, feeling his consciousness escaping his grasp again as darkness swallowed him. Except this time, he would be here to stay.

—

There hadn’t been any external trauma exerted on his body when he had first been brought in, other than a few bruises on his arm from when he had collapsed on the ground. But for the most part, he had been unharmed. And he suspected that whatever had induced his coma, did a good job of protecting his body while he was unconscious.

So recovering from a three week long coma wasn’t as arduous of a process as most of the nurses had described it to be. He had been confined to his bed the first few days, with him swimming in and out of consciousness and being very disoriented. But it didn’t take very long before he had regained the ability to stay awake for extended periods of time.

Regaining proper use of his muscles took a little while longer, and Ran had hovered nervously around him whenever he so much as wobbled his way to the bathroom. It was something he was extremely grateful for, but could’ve done without once he could swing his arms and legs properly around again.

Ran had also brought him a set of clothes to change into, the night before he was going to be discharged.

He quickly changed into the clothes once he had received them, thanking Ran on his way to the bathroom.

“I’m going to come back tomorrow morning!” Ran called out after him. “Make sure you’re still in bed until then!”

“Got it!” He called back as soon as the door shut behind him. Honestly, what did Ran have to worry about anyways?

It’s not like he had anywhere to go, he thought as he discreetly slid behind a nurse on his way to the roof. The hospital’s air was too sterilized, and the air that flowed in through the window of his room wasn’t nearly enough to soothe his agitation. He _needed_ to go somewhere, somewhere that wasn’t just his bed and the bathroom.

He sighed as he pulled on his jacket, checking to make sure the door to the roof wasn’t locked before making his way to the railings that barred off the roof’s edges.

He threw his arms over the top, bending down so that the railing dug into his chest as he leaned heavily against the metal. He inhaled a long breath, and then let it out, feeling a small smile pull at the corner of his lips as he shut his eyes and felt the wind blowing gently through his hair.

Oh how he had been waiting for this. This, and one other thing.

“You’re certainly enjoying this.”

And there it was.

Shinichi flicked his eyes to his right, where he saw a figure clad in black, donned with a matching black cap, stood beside him. Their hands were tucked inside their jacket pockets, back straight as they overlooked the view of the city beside him. Shinichi couldn’t see their eyes, and he didn’t particularly want to at the moment either.

Shinichi turned his gaze away, blowing out a sigh as he sunk down lower. “You try being confined to a hospital room for nearly two weeks. I couldn’t do a single thing.”

The other hummed. “Recovery going well?”

“As if you hadn’t come to check up on me everyday,” Shinichi muttered, sliding his eyes shut as he focused on the soft brushes of the wind against his cheeks.

He heard a chuckle from beside him. “Guilty as charged.”

Of course he was guilty as charged. Guilt had probably been the only factor in keeping him coming back. Honestly, for a criminal, he held too much concern for others.

“So?” Shinichi cracked his eyes open. “What happened with the jewel?”

“It broke,” the other answered, pausing briefly before continuing. “After trying everything, every method ranging from slightly damaging to highly destructive, I just came home one day to find it shattered.”

Shinichi nodded, before quirking his lip in amusement. “Guess the owner won’t be getting it back anytime soon then.”

He was expecting a snort, or at least a pity chuckle, but he was only met with silence. Which was odd, because the phantom was always easy to amuse, at least, to Shinichi he was. He turned his head towards the thief in concern, but the other had only kept his head resolutely forward.

“It was most likely the same day you woke up.”

Shinichi blinked. “Oh.”

The other pursed his lips, and tilted his head slightly in Shinichi’s direction, his cap still obscuring nearly half his face and eyes. “What happened?”

Shinichi paused, before turning his head towards the street below. He blew out a breath, and reached a hand up to scratch as his head. “I’m not sure there’s much to tell. I just, had dreams, and it all fell apart when I figured they were _only_ dreams.”

It felt like more than just mere dreams to him though. Shinichi remembered recalling each of them with perfect clarity, even as the first week of his recovery had passed. Every single happenstance he had experienced in those dreams remained vivid, and he remembered lying in bed and flipping through each one like a photo album. It had been as clear as crystal to him then, and it was still as clear as crystal to him now.

“How did you figure it out?” The words echoed in his head, reverberating with the voice he had heard in his dreams. And he had an answer, a clear cut answer. He just wasn’t sure if it was safe, to say it aloud.

There was a shuffle of fabric coupled with a few footsteps, and he could tell that the other had turned their body towards him. Waiting, for an explanation.

Shinichi kept his gaze pointed at the street below them, watching as a parent and child exited the hospital, with the child jumping excitedly up and down while the parent nodded. He twisted his fingers, and dragged his eyes back up towards KID—or, well, Kuroba—with his lips drawn into a straight line.

Even with the cap on, he had lifted his head high enough that Shinichi could catch sight of his eyes, which seemed to glow dimly in the light of the moon shining behind him. Honestly, Shinichi was starting to think that he did this on purpose. And the more he thought about it, the more he found his theory to be correct. This was a guy who loved flare and dramatics after all, even to a subconscious level.

Shinichi tilted his head, but Kuroba only continued staring at him, as if trying to decipher whatever was going through Shinichi’s mind. The feeling of it made him feel exposed, even if he knew that Kuroba had no chance of ever figuring out what was running through Shinichi’s head, because the other simply didn’t think like Shinichi did. Kuroba could masquerade as Shinichi however many times he wanted, could imitate his voice and body language however much he could, but he would never know what Shinichi felt, when it came to a certain phantom thief.

“It was the eyes,” Shinichi said finally, catching the slightest twitch of Kuroba’s eyes.

“What?”

“The eyes,” Shinichi repeated, turning his body to face Kuroba completely.

The hand he kept on the rail clenched tightly, even as he kept his face impassive. He really didn’t want to say anymore, but Kuroba would definitely ask, and if he didn't get the answer, then he would prod. And Shinichi really didn’t want him prodding. So he settled on reminding himself that Kuroba definitely wouldn’t understand what he was saying, and kept going from there.

“The eyes were too bright. They were too, perfect,” Shinichi continued, a soft gust of wind sweeping past them. “The ones I know don’t glow as brightly. They’re not perfectly round, and they’re not as saturated. The ones I know are chipped around the edges, and they’re worn down from time to time, when it gets to be too much. But even then, they always manage to brighten up, never completely, but it’s enough. Imperfect to itself, indifferent to the rest of the world, irreplaceable to me.”

Kuroba’s face remained emotionless, and Shinichi figured it was to hide his confusion.

“The eyes I know,” Shinichi said, finally loosening his hand enough to let go of the rail, “manage to hide everything, and nothing at all.”

Kuroba’s eyes twitched again, but the rest of his body remained unmoving. Perfectly frozen, perfectly lost.

“Well,” Shinichi started as he tucked his hands into his pockets, “that’s what I think, anyway.”

He made his way back to the door leading to the roof, raising his hand in a brief wave goodbye.

“You’re welcome for the gem by the way, you can consider this as a repayment or as a favor you owe me,” he said as he reached for the door handle. “I’ve honestly lost count.”

“You know my identity,” Kuroba said suddenly, causing Shinichi’s hand to flinch before he could grasp the knob.

“How do you know that?” Shinichi asked, his eyebrows furrowing as he turned back around. Another gust of wind fluttered by, rustling their clothes as Shinichi stared at him in confusion. His eyes were obscured by his cap again. “You’ve never said anything incriminating.”

“And yet, you don’t deny it.”

Shinichi winced. Yeah that was probably the first thing he should’ve done, but it was the truth. “I’m not going to reveal anything if you’re worried about that. The way I learned about it wasn’t exactly, ideal. It took all the pleasure out of unmasking you myself. It, wasn’t fun at all.”

From where he stood, he could see Kuroba’s shoulders tensing, and if he narrowed his eyes and focused hard enough, he could see the subtle tightening of the other’s jaw.

“Are you,” Shinichi swallowed, finding the other’s silence to be a little, unnerving, “okay?”

“It wasn’t fun?” Kuroba asked, before chuckling darkly and looking up, his eyes piercing and flaring. “You’re very contradictory, Kudou Shinichi.”

Shinichi blinked at him, before furrowing his brows in confusion. “What?”

The front of Kuroba’s jacket pockets twisted, and Shinichi could read enough into it to know the other was clenching his fists. There was a loud click, and Shinichi snapped his eyes back up to see Kuroba smiling bitterly at him.

“You’re the one who said you had fun,” Kuroba bit out, his voice rising with each word. “You’re the one who said it would’ve been nice to stay in that other world. You were the one who said—!”

“How do you even know all this?”

“Because those dreams were mine!”

Shinichi widened his eyes, staring bewilderedly at the other as he watched the heavy heaving of his shoulders. Kuroba was glaring wildly at him, with his fists clenched by his side and his mouth twisted into something of a snarl.

_What...?_

“Your,” Shinichi started, taking a hesitant step forward, “dreams?”

“Hell if I know how you got there,” Kuroba ground out, snapping his head down and bringing a hand up to claw at his face. “I don’t know if you were there for the entire time you were unconscious, or if you were only there for that final day before Pandora broke, but those dreams were _mine_.”

_Does that mean that he also...?_

Shinichi frowned, the dreams flashing briefly in his mind. A lifetime condensed into the span of a few weeks. “I was there for about three weeks.”

Kuroba chuckled darkly, bringing his other hand up to cover his face completely. “So you _were_ there the entire time. I should’ve known. Everything suddenly felt too, real.”

Shinichi took another hesitant step forward, keeping his voice level so as to not scare the other off. “I thought those dreams were mine.”

“Yeah well, they weren’t.” Kuroba slowly lowered his hands, staring blankly at them as they fell to his sides. His voice sounded venomous.

“But,” Shinichi tried, “they felt like mine.”

“Because the magic made it feel like that.”

“No no, I’m saying, I’m pretty sure they were mine.”

“In case you didn’t know, that’s how manipulation works.”

“No,” Shinichi tried again. “No I’m pretty sure I dreamt those dreams.”

Kuroba sighed, finally tilting his head back up to stare at Shinichi tiredly. “The magic—”

“You’re not listening to me!” Shinichi exclaimed, before clamping his mouth shut and marching up to stand a few spaces in front of Kuroba. “Those dreams were mine, I didn’t even question that they might not be mine, because I was nearly a hundred percent sure they were mine.”

Kuroba only furrowed his eyebrows at him. “Kudou, the magi—”

“How come you remember nearly everything I said while leaving out the most important part?!” Shinichi demanded, his fingers twitching by his sides as he held back the urge to _slap_ the sense into Kuroba. “I said I enjoyed my time there didn’t I? Don’t you remember what I said to the near perfect copy of your dream self? Or you? I don’t know, whichever one of you that was? I said that I loved you didn’t I?!”

Kuroba flinched, but Shinichi was too busy pulling at his hair in frustration to care about what exactly was coming out of his mouth.

“And yeah, those feelings might have been amplified by the dream, or subspace, or I don’t know, I’ll read about it later, but there had to have been something there in the first place!” Shinichi grabbed onto Kuroba’s collar and jerked him forward, glaring into his astonished eyes. “Nothing can manipulate my feelings that easily, not even some stupid gem whose magic is questionable at best.”

Kuroba swallowed, and tried weakly, “It, it did put you in a coma though?”

Shinichi rolled his eyes and released the other’s collar. “All I’m saying is, you’re putting a lot of worth into the idea of magic, and the idea of it being able to cause large scale manipulations. It can’t, because all it did was what, merge our dreams together?”

Kuroba winced. “I know someone who would probably take a lot of offense to that.”

“Firm believer of the occult?”

“More like _is_ the occult,” Kuroba scoffed, before shuddering.

Shinichi’s eyebrows furrowed. “What?”

“Forget it,” Kuroba said, before linking his hands behind his back and rocking on his heels, resolutely keeping his eyes on the ground. “So, what now? I really hope you weren’t lying when you said,” Kuroba swallowed, the tips of his ears burning, “said that.”

Shinichi deadpanned at him. “I don’t know, what did I say?”

Kuroba snapped his head back up, sputtering out incoherent choking noises with his mouth agape and a scandalized look on his face. Shinichi internally snickered, and then externally snickered. The incoherent choking noises only grew louder as Kuroba pointed an accusing finger at him.

Shinichi laughed, and turned towards the roof railings, reaching out his hands to grip at the metal. He tilted his face back towards Kuroba, and jerked his head in the direction of the cityscape. “Let’s get out of here.”

Ran was going to be _pissed_.

Kuroba wiped at his mouth, flicking his eyes over the edge of the roof before turning back towards Shinichi. “You know I didn’t bring anything right? A daring roof escape is out of the question.”

Shinichi pursed his lips, bringing a hand up to rub at his chin. “So we’re escaping through the front door then?”

Kuroba grinned. “Bingo.”

“Ah,” Shinichi said, before turning to smirk at Kuroba. “Lead the way.”

Ran was going to absolutely _murder_ him.

“Well then,” Kuroba said, with a mischievous edge to his smile as he stepped closer to Shinichi. Shinichi already felt the goosebumps on his arm prickling, with the way the other was looking at him. He could barely react before Kuroba lunged forward and swooped Shinichi up into his arms.

“Wha—,” Shinichi stammered, feeling his world spin uncontrollably before it righted itself, with Shinichi’s arms wrapped around Kuroba’s neck and the other’s hands braced under his thighs and back. “H-how—”

“Shall we, detective?” Kuroba asked, voice twinkling with mirth as he lifted a foot and braced it against the edge of the rail.

Shinichi tightened his hold around Kuroba’s neck, staring dreadfully over the edge and onto the concrete driveway below. “I thought you said you didn’t bring anything!”

Shinichi heard Kuroba cackle maniacally, and he whipped his head back around to meet the other’s eyes, feeling his heart stutter twice as he took in the other’s mischievous grin.

“I lied.”

And Shinichi screamed as Kuroba jumped.

But it was fine, Shinichi thought as his shouts turned into laughter, because Kuroba’s eyes were positively glowing.

**Author's Note:**

> *looks at the established relationship tag* *cackles maniacally* anyways—
> 
> The moments they spend together are very short, never a whole picture and reminiscent of "tiny fractures". 
> 
> Pandora basically manifested within Shinichi, because Shinichi was with Kaito when he found it, but Kaito was its original host (which worked out conveniently LMAO plot armor amirite). So it just meshed the two of them together into one space, and it lived vicariously through Kaito (its host) by taking Shinichi's consciousness and holding onto it. So that final breakdown before Pandora/Kaito shattered, it was part Pandora/part Kaito talking.
> 
> No need to make it weird XD, everything was still Kaito, they were HIS (AND Shinichi's) dreams after all, Pandora just lived off of it to make itself not as lonely. Pandora isn't a person. But I figured the concept of immortality would be lonely. 
> 
> Anyways I hoped you guys enjoyed!! Have a nice day!! :DD


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